Welcome to another Friday Chat & Drinks, lovely readers!
This month I have the fabulous Fenella J Miller with me to tell us a little about herself and her new release Bad News at Harbour House, which released on the 18th June. Make sure you head over to Amazon after this interview and grab a copy (link at the end of the interview)!
Okay, let's get on with my questions, shall we? Welcome to my blog, Fenella...
R: Tell, me what was your first job? Did you like or dislike it? Why?
F: I worked as an ice cream cornet filler when I was 13, as a live in chamber maid when I was 15. Both summer jobs at Walton on the Naze.
R: That sounds like a great job for a girl of 13! I was delivering newspapers at that age :) Do you have a pet peeve? If so what is it?
F: Pet peeve -let me think. Better not be political. Young people, and now older as well, who use the word 'like' all the time.
R: Ooh, I can't help but agree with that one! Drives me mad, too. Do you spend more time researching or writing?
F: More time writing than researching of course. I do three books for Boldwood and three or four to indie publish every year. If I was starting a new era or subject then there would be a two week research period. I've still four more books to do in this WW2 series so no heavy research, just checking small facts when needed.
R: Wow! You write 6 or 7 books a year?? How on earth do you do that? I manage just about two, although that may go up to three when I finish my degree next year, but 6 or 7? Absolutely no way!
On that note, why don't you tell me and my readers a little about your latest release and the inspiration behind it?
F: Bad News at Harbour House came out last month. It's the sixth book in an ongoing series set in a real place, Wivenhoe, only the characters are fictional. I don’t get inspired, I just have an idea and off I go.
R: How much of your book is realistic?
F: I write fiction so I make things up. Everything I put in my WW2 has happened somewhere or could have happened. I avoid anachronisms in my Regency books, but they are a genre, not fact based like my WW2. There were only 12 dukes in England -yet we often have a duke as a hero.
R: I can't imagine you have more to do than what you are already doing, BUT what are your future ambitions for your writing career?
F: I've achieved more than I ever expected. 100 books published, foreign sales, books in bookshops, writing for Boldwood. My ambition is just to be able to continue as long as I can to do what I love doing - write. Would be great to have a film deal though.
R: Oh, wouldn't it just?! I have everything crossed for that film or TV deal :) Do you admire anyone? If yes, who and why?
F: I admire Christian/Miles Cameron, in my opinion he's the best living writer. He writes superbly in many eras as well as Sci Fi and fantasy. He must really love writing as he is so successful he obviously doesn’t need to write as many brilliant books as he does.
R: I've not read any of his books, so will definitely look him up. Okay, my final question... Can you share one fact about yourself that would surprise people?
F: Hard to think of anything that isn't already out somewhere. My grandfather was an Indian Rajah is the thing most people are surprised by.
That's wonderful! Thank you so much for spending this time with me, Fenella - I'll post all the details about Bad News at Harbour House below and wish you lots of success and sales with it!
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BLURB:
London, East End, 1941: When everything is lost, can love rebuild a family?
With the Blitz blazing through London and sirens wailing through the night, district nurse Sarah Rhodes tends the injured and comforts the frightened, determined to endure this terrible war. But when her own home is destroyed, she is forced to leave London and seek refuge at Harbour House.
There, more devastating bad news awaits. Her beloved husband Stan, a brave RAF pilot flying dangerous bombing raids, is reported missing in action when his plane fails to return. Sarah’s world shatters.
Until she uncovers a secret: the children of Harbour House have been hiding an evacuee in the air-raid shelter. Abandoned and alone, young Jimmy has no one left to care for him.
Unable to turn her back, Sarah resolves to become the mother he needs. But can she build a family from the wreckage of war? And will more bad news hit Harbour House or is there hope on the horizon?
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passion for Regency romantic adventures and has published over fifty to great
acclaim. Her father was a Yorkshireman and her mother the daughter of a Rajah.
She lives in a small village in Essex with her British Shorthair cat.
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